Utah prohibited 18th book from all public schools across the country
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This week, Utah’s state has added another book to its list of titles that must be removed from all public schools. On May 5, Sarah Gruwen Elephant water has been added to the list of “Sensitive Materials” of the State. The book was published in 2006
Utah adopted one of the largest bills related to books in public schools last year. Bill 29 of Hous 29 (HB 29) allows parents to challenge books that they consider “sensitive materials”, as well as frankly prohibited books from all state schools in the country, if these books are considered “objective sensitive materials” or “pornographic” in at least three state schools or two state schools and five. The bill came into force on July 1, 2024 and began with 13 titles on it.
The bill is retroactive, which means that the titles that meet the state’s instructions before the start date of the bill are included in the list. On 29 HB, every time a public or charter school removes a book considered “sensitive material”, they must notify the State Council of Education. If this book meets the threshold of removal, All Schools will be notified and expected to throw it away.
There are already 18 books banned at every school in Utah. Of these, 16 are written by women, and their average publication date is 2011. This means that most of these books have been on shelves and have been available for many years and do not cause problems to this crisis. The list is as follows:
The important thing is to understand the law is that despite the allegations, it is “local control”, schools in the state are forced to follow the decisions taken in other areas. There are 42 public school areas in Utah, but two The districts represent nearly 80% of the banned books across the country: the Davis School and the Washington School Quarter.
Elephant water It was banned in the Davis school district, as well as in cache and tole.
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In January, the State Council of Education in Utah also further clarified the law as it applied to students. Neither students are not allowed to bring their own personal or public library copies to any of the forbidden books of the country in school campuses. Students’ freedom to even carry these books to a class for their own free reading is against the law. The state goes so far that it has issued guidance on how local educational agencies can turn to students who bring out any of the 18 books above.
We will continue to see more books added to this list in Utah as the school year continues. This, of course, is not the only books forbidden in the country in which bans on books occur, despite the claims of the Federal Department of Education. Individual school districts have the right to ban all the books they consider inappropriate – which, of course, help add more titles to the state list, as only three areas need to remove a book before the book is removed everywhere.
Utah is not the only condition with such a list of books. South Carolina also retains a sanctioned list of books that need to be removed in every public school. Just one day after the addition of Utah Elephant water In its list of prohibited books, the State Department of Education in South Carolina has banned another 10 books across the country, making them the most clumsy condition when it comes to reservation prohibitions. While Tennessee has the legal mechanisms of creating school books throughout the country, it has not yet added titles to a list.
These laws do not apply to private or home institutions. This is deliberate.
The prohibitions of books in Utah are coming to waves, so they provide for more titles to be added to the list in the coming weeks, especially since the state works back from the date of application of the law.
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